Support type undergarment



May 30, 1967 J. H. WYSS ETAL SUPPORT TYPE UNDERGARMENT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 17, 1965 INVENTORS. Z/ W John BYW

May 30, 1967 J. H. WYSS ETAL SUPPORT TYPE UNDERGARMENT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 17, 1965 Jo/znff W We), QZzm United States Patent 3,322,120 SUPPORT TYPE UNDERGARMENT John H. Wyss and William A. Testard, Kenosha, Wis., assignors to Coopers Incorporated, Kenosha, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Filed Feb. 17, 1965, Ser. No. 438,167 6 Claims. (Cl. 128-159) This invention relates to mens undergarments and in particular to form-fitting, support-type shorts, commonly called briefs.

This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 350,473 filed Mar. 9, 1964, now abandoned.

One object of the present invention is to provide a brief which is particularly characterized by both enhanced wear resistance and a wide range of adaptability of support to various body sizings and requirements.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a brief which has the salient feature of a ventilated, self-shaping support panel.

An additional object of this invention is to provide a brief which is constructed of preselected types of fabric in such a manner as to provide comfortable, self-shaping support, ventilation, and resistance to wear.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a brief which attains the foregoing objects and features at minimum cost of manufacture.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent upon reading the specification with reference to the following drawings.

In the drawings, in which the types of fabric material are in part shown somewhat diagrammatically:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view, with a portion cut away, of a preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a rear view in elevation of the preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIGURE 3 is a side view in elevation of the preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIGURE 4 is a view in elevation of one front panel used in construction of the undergarment.

FIGURE 5 is a view in elevation of another front panel used in construction of the undergarment.

FIGURE 6 is a view in elevation, with a portion cut away, of the rear panel used in construction of the undergarment.

FIGURE 7 is a view in elevation, with a portion cut away, of the support panel used in construction of the undergarment.

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary, enlarged view of the mesh fabric of which the support panel of the undergarment is constituted.

FIGURE 9 is a front elevational view of another preferred embodiment of the invention wherein the undergarment is provided with side slots.

FIGURE 10 is a side view in elevation of a side-slotted undergarment having a back panel of bi-knit material.

FIGURE 11 is a side view in elevation of a side-slotted undergarment having a back panel of rib-knit material.

FIGURE 12 is a fragmentary, enlarged view of the mesh fabric of which the support panel of the undergarment of FIGURES 9, 10 and 11 is constituted.

Referring particularly to FIGURES l, 2 and 3 of the drawings, there is shown a form-fitting, support-type rnans or boys undergarment or brief constructed in accordance with the present invention. Broadly, the undergarment comprises a tubular garment body adapted to embrace the abdominal, side, back, and crotch areas of the body and provided with a waist opening and a pair of leg openings. The body of the undergarment includes two front panels 11 and 12, respectively, a back panel 13, and a support panel 14.

3,322,129 Patented May 30, 1967 The front panels 11 and 12 are depicted in FIGURES 4 and 5, respectively, as cut from a pattern. Both panels 11 and 12 are cut from a rib knit fabric with the fabric wales 15 (shown diagrammatically) extending vertically, longitudinally of the undergarment. Accordingly, the panels 11 and 12 are stretchable in the horizontal direction, transversely of the undergarment, so as to conform to and securely engage the body of the wearer. The inner edges 17 and 18 of the respective panels 11 and 12 are joined by the vertical portion 16a and curvilinear portion 16b of the knit-tape covered seam 16, shown in FIG- URE 1.

It will be noted by reference to FIGURES 4 and 5 that the front panels 11 and 12, respectively, are not mirror images of one another. The front panel 11 has an additional area portion 11a roughly in the form of an inclined rectangle with a short side joined to front panel 12 by portion 16b of the scam 16, shown in FIGURE 1. As will be described further on, the portion 11a of left front panel 11 cooperates with the support panel 14 to provide a lapped fly opening 29.

The back panel 13 is depicted in FIGURE 6 as cut from a pattern. The back panel 13 is constlucted of biknit fabric consisting of two jersey or flat knit fabrics knit simultaneously in tubular form with one tube inside the other and joined together at predetermined intervals by tuck stitches obtained by employing both dial and cylinder needles in conjunction. In FIGURE 6, the cut away portion illustrates the two layers. The bi-knit fabric is arranged in the undergarment with its stretch characteristics in the horizontal direction, transversely of the undergarment, so as to conform to and securely engage the body of the wearer. The bi-knit fabric has an appreciably greater elastic stretch characteristic than rib-knit fabric. The tuck stitches are illustrated diagrammatically and identified by reference numeral 19. The particular advantage of the bi-knit fabric utilized is its resistance to wear which is enhanced by the bonding effect of the tuck stitches which prevents substantial movement of one fabric layer relative to the other.

At their side edges 20 and 21, respectively, front panels 11 and 12 are joined to the side edges 22 and 23 of the back panel 13 by felled seams 24, shown in FIGURES 1, 2 and 3. The felled seams 24 are formed by folding the contiguous edges of the respective panels back on themselves, interlocking the folded edges, and sewing so as to provide a sturdy interlocked seam of two thicknesses of rib-knit fabric and two thicknesses of bi-knit fabric.

Referring to FIGURES 1, 2 and 3, it is seen that the three panels 11, 12 and 13 at their top edges are sewn to a waistband 25 which is fabricated of an elastic material. The top edge of the back panel 13 is preferably gathered slightly before being sewn to the waistband 25, as shown in FIGURE 2.

The support panel 14 is depicted in FIGURE 7 cut according to a pattern and consisting of two layers of a mesh fabric formed on a Diamesh machine. The cut away portion in FIGURE 7 illustrates the two layers of fabric. As shown in the enlarged view of FIGURE 8, the mesh fabric is characterized in an unstressed condition by elongated rhombic apertures with the aperture diagonals in the vertical direction of greater length than the aperture diagonals in the horizontal direction. The mesh fabric, accordingly, provides a stretch characteristic both vertically and horizontally with, however, greater extensibility in the horizontal direction than in the vertical direction. Hence, the mesh construction provides a substantial measure of adaptability. It further tends to spread stresses imposed on it over a greater surface area than in the case of knit and elstic fabrics. Significantly, the mesh support panel 14 has been found to be especially adapted in an undergarment of the present construction, to provide "ice a suspensory pouch which is particularly self-shaping to the body characteristics of the wearer. The result is firm yet comfortable support. Additionally, the mesh support panel 14, having relatively large apertures in comparison with knit and elastic fabrics, provides the salient advantage of ventilation.

It will be noted that the upper edges 26 and 27 of the support panel 14 angle upwardly and inwardly from the horizontal to provide a triangular top portion 14a. Edges 26 and 27 preferably subtend an angle of approximately 90 degrees. As illustrated in FIGURE 1, the edge 27 of the support panel 14 is joined by portion 16b of the covered seam 16 to a section of the edge 18 of the front panel 12 and to a more limited section of the'edge 17 of the front panel 11 and is joined by the portion 160 of port panel 14 is joined to the lower curvilinear edge 30 of front panel 11 by portion 31b of the edge binding 31 for the right leg opening, shown in FIGURE 1. An area portion of the support panel 14 contiguous to the upper edge 26 overlaps the portion 110 of front panel 11, as illustrated by the cut away portion in FIGURE 1. The lower angular edge 32 of the front panel 11 and the upper edge '26 of support panel 14 are provided with edge bindings 33 and 34, respectively, and freely depend from the rernainder of the brief as shown in FIGURE 1. Thus, the overlapping portion of support panel 14 cooperates with portion 11a of the front panel 11 to provide the angular 11y opening 29.

The lower edge 42 of the support panel 14 is joined to the lower edge 35 of the back panel 13 by the seam 41, shown in FIGURES 2 and 3. The right leg opening is thereby formed by the lower curvilinear edge 30 of front panel 11, the lower curvilinear edge of back. panel 13, and the curvilinear side edge of the support panel 14, all of which are reinforced by the edge'binding 31 shown in FIGURES 1 and 2. The portion 31a of the edge binding 31 is co-extensive with the side edge 28 of the support panel 14 and stitched so as to render this portion of the edge binding 31 substantially non-extensible along its length. Both portions 31b and 310 of the edge binding 31, which are co-extensive with the edge 30 of the front panel 11 and the edge 49 of the back panel 13, respectively, are formed to encase and secure a flat strip of elastic'material (not shown). An elastic characteristic is thereby imparted to the opening for the right leg such that it will conform to and bear against the right leg of the wearer, biasing the portion 31a of the edge binding 31 along the curvilinear side edge 28 of the support panel 14 into secure engagement with the right thigh of the wearer. Similarly, the left leg opening is formed by the lower curvilinear edge 36 of front panel 12, the lower curvilinear edge 38 of back panel 13, and. the curvilinear side 38 of the back panel 13, respectively, are also formed to encase and secure a flat strip of elastic material (not shown). An elastic characteristic is thereby imparted to the opening for the left leg such thatit will conform to and bear against the left leg of the wearer, biasing the portion 39a of the edge binding 39 along the curvilinear side edge 37 of the front panel 14 into secure engagement with the left thigh of the wearer.

'When the undergarment described is worn, the elastic Waistband 25 expands to engage the body of the wearer and to hold the .undergarment up, the transverse stretch characteristic of the panels 11, 1.2 and 1.3 cause the undergarment to conform to and securely engage the torso of the wearer, and the support panel 14 conforms to and is biased into engagement with the thighs of the wearer. The support panel 14 further conforms to the physique of the wearer to form a suspensory pouch. The stretch characteristics of the panels 11, 12 and 13 and the support panel 14 co-act in conjunction with the elastic waistband 25 and the elastic strips secured in the leg opening edge bindings 31 and 39 to enable the undergarment to readily adapt to the movements of the wearer.

It can now be seen that the garment constructed according with the present invention provides a mans brief utilizing selected types of fabric in such a manner as to provide a garment of economical construction which combines enhanced wear resistance with firm yet comfortable ventilated support. As previously indicated, the mesh support panel is particular-1y adapted to mold itself to the physique of the wearer, and the bi-knit back panel significantly enhances wear resistance.

Referring now to FIGURES 9 and 10, there is illus-.

trated another preferred form of the invention which is.

the same in structure as the garment illustrated in FIG- URES 1 through 8, except that an elongate slot 53 is provided in each side of the garment and a different type of two layer mesh material is utilized in the support panel top by sewing the top edges of the edge bindings 51 and 52 to the waistband 25 such that the edge binding 51 overlaps the edge binding 52, as illustrated. Similarly,

each slot 53 is terminated or closed at the bottom by I sewing the bottom edges of the edge bindings 51 and 52 to" the appropriate leg opening edge binding 31 or 39 such that the edge binding 51 overlaps the edge binding 52, :as illustrated.

The slots 53 effectively co-act. with the front panels 11 and 12, the back panel 13, and the mesh support panel 14 so as to enhance the adaptability'of the characteristic self-shaping support of the garment 'to a wide range of body sizings and to a wide range of bodily movements and positions 'by the wearer. In addition, the slots 53 provide the advantage of additional ventilation.

The mesh material utilized in the support panel 14 in FIGURES 9 and 10 is a double layer of eyelet mesh material. As illustrated in the enlarged fragmentary view of FIGURE 12, the eyelet mesh fabric is characterized as having relatively large apertures which in an unstressed condition are elongated in the vertical or longitudinal "direction. The mesh fabric of FIGURE 12, like the mesh fabric of FIGURE 8 provides a stretch characteristic both vertically and horizontally with, however, greater extensibility in the horizontal direction than in the vertical direction. Hence, the mesh fabric of FIGURE, 12 provides the same advantages previously described in reference to FIGURE 8. V

Referring now to FIGURE 11, a modification of the side-slotted undergarment of FIGURES 9 and 10 is shown wherein rib-knit fabric is used for the back panel 13 in.

lieu of tuck-stitched bi-knit fabric. In other respects, the garment illustrated in FIGURE 11 is the same as the under garment of FIGURES 9 and 10. Since, the addition of the side slots 53 lessens the need for the greater horizontal stretch characteristic in the back panel 13 provided by bi-knit fabric, it has been found possible to utilize rib-knit fabric for the back panel 13 without impairing the self-shaping characteristic of the undergarment. In addition, since the hinging action of. the side slots 53 reduces the stretching of the back panel 13 caused V by bending and other movement of the wearer, the wear on the back panel 13 is lessened, and it has been foundthat a single layer of rib-knit fabric can be utilized for the back panel 13 in lieu of the tuck-stitched double layer of bi-knit material.

Although particular embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it is to be understood that this is merely by way of example and in no manner to be construed as a limitation. It is contemplated that certain modifications may be made within the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

We claim:

1. A mans support-type undergarment comprising a pair of front panels secured together along adjacent edge portions, a back panel of two layers of jersey knit fabric tuck-stitched together at predetermined intervals, said back panel having a stretch characteristic transversely of said undergarment, said back panel being secured along its respective side edges to corresponding adjacent side edges of said front panels, the top edges of said front panels and said back panel defining a waist opening in said undergarment, and -a support panel of mesh material having relatively large apertures each having an elongated configuration in the longitudinal direction when said mesh material is unstressed such that said mesh material has a stretch characteristic in both the transverse and longitudinal direction but greater in the transverse direction than in the longitudinal direction, the upper portion of said support panel being secured to said front panels and in overlapping cooperation with one of said front panels to form a fly opening, said support panel being secured at its lower edge to said back panel, said support panel further having curvilinear side edges which cooperate respectively with the lower edge portions of said back panel and said front panels to define a pair of leg openings in said undergarment.

2. A mans support-type undergarment according to claim 1 wherein said front panels are constituted of ribknit fabric with the fabric wales extending longitudinally of said undergarment to provide a stretch characteristic transversely of said undergarment.

3. A mans support-type undergarment according to claim 1 wherein said mesh material of said support panel is constituted of two layers of a mesh fabric adapted to provide ventilation.

4. A mans support-type undergarment according to claim 1 wherein said mesh material of said support panel is constituted of two layers of a mesh fabric having relatively large, elongated rhombic mesh apertures with aperture diagonals in the longitudinal direction of greater extent than aperture diagonals in the transverse direction when unstressed.

5. A mans undergarment comprising an elastic waistband, a pair of front fabric panels secured to said waistband at their top edges, said front panels having adjacent edge portions secured together, said front panels further being constituted of rib-knit fabric with the fabric wales extending longitudinally of said undergarment to provide a stretch characteristic transversely of said undergarment, a back panel constituted of two layers of jersey knit fabric tuck-stitched together at predetermined intervals and with a stretch characteristic transversely of said undergarment, the top edge of said back panel being secured to said waistband, said back panel being further secured along its respective side edges to corresponding, adjacent side edges of said front panels, and a ventilating support panel constituted of two layers of mesh fabric having relatively large, elongated rhombic apertures with aperture diagonals in the longitudinal direction of greater extent than aperture diagonals in the transverse direction when unstressed so as to provide an extensibility characteristic in both the transverse and longitudinal directions but greater in the transverse direction than in the longitudinal direction, said support panel having an upper portion secured to said front panels and in overlapping cooperation with one of u said front panels so as to form a fly opening, said support panel being secured at its lower edge to said back panel, said support panel further having curvilinear side edges which cooperate respectively with lower edge portions of said back panels to define a pair of leg openings in said undergarment, and a strip of elastic material for each of said pair of leg openings secured in and co-extensive with said lower edge portions of said back panel and front panels defining said leg openings such that said curvilinear side edges of said support panel are biased into engagement with the thighs of the wearer of the undergarment.

6. A mans undergarment comprising an elastic waistband, a pair of front fabric panels secured to said waistband at their top edges, said front panels further being constituted of rib-knit fabric with the fabric wales eX- tending longitudinally of said undergarment to provide a stretch characteristic transversely of said undergarment, a back panel having its top edge secured to said waistband, and a support panel of ventilating mesh fabric having relatively large apertures each having an elongated configuration in the longitudinal direction when said mesh material is unstressed such that said mesh material has a stretch characteristic in both the transverse and longitudinal directions but greater in the transverse direction than in the longitudinal direction, said support panel having an upper portion secured to said front panels and in overlapping cooperation with one of said front panels so as to form a fly opening, said support panel further having curvilinear side edges which cooperate respectively with lower edge portions of said front and back panels to define a pair of leg openings in said undergarment, and a strip of elastic material for each of said pair of leg openings secured in and coextensive with said lower edge portions of said back panel and front panels defining said leg openings such that said curvilinear side edges of said support panel are biased into engagement with the thighs of the wearer of the undergarment.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,185,672 6/1916 Huettner 128-525 2,019,140 10/ 1935 Kneibler 2-224 2,235,499 3/ 1941 Hiller 22.24 2,621,654 12/1952 Wallace 128159 2,641,257 6/ 1953 Rutledge 128-528 3,038,471 6/ 1962 Van Horne 128159 ADELE M. EAGER, Primary Examiner. 

1. A MAN''S SUPPORT-TYPE UNDERGARMENT COMPRISING A PAIR OF FRONT PANELS SECURED TOGETHER ADJACENT EDGE PORTIONS, A BACK PANEL TWO LAYERS OF JERSEY KNIT FABRIC TUCK-STITCHED TOGETHER AT PREDETERMINED INTERVALS, SAID BACK PANEL HAVING A STRETCH CHARACTERISTIC TRANSVERSELY OF SAID UNDERGARMENT, SAID BACK PANEL BEING SECURED ALONG ITS RESPECTIVE SIDE EDGES TO CORRESPONDING ADJACENT SIDE EDGES OF SAID FRONT PANELS, THE TOP EDGES OF SAID FRONT PANELS AND SAID BACK PANEL DEFINING A WAIST OPENING IN SAID UNDERGARMENT, AND A SUPPORT PANEL OF MESH MATERIAL HAVING RELATIVELY LARGE APERTURES EACH HAVING AN ELONGATED CONFIGURATION IN THE LONGITUDINAL DIRECTION WHEN SAID MESH MATERIAL IS UNSTRESSED SUCH THAT SAID MESH MATERIAL HAS A STRETCH CHARACTERISTIC IN BOTH THE TRANSVERSE AND LONGITUDINAL DIRECTION BUT GREATER, IN THE TRANSVERSE DIRECTION THAN IN THE LONGITUDINAL DIRECTION, THE UPPER PORTION OF SAID SUPPORT PANEL BEING SECURED TO SAID FRONT PANELS IN OVERLAPPING COOPERATION WITH ONE OF SAID FRONT PANELS TO FORM A FLY OPENING, SAID SUPPORT PANEL BEING SECURED AT ITS LOWER EDGE TO SAID BACK PANEL, SAID SUPPORT PANEL FURTHER HAVING CURVILINEAR SIDE EDGES WHICH COOPERATE RESPECTIVELY WITH THE LOWER EDGE PORTIONS OF SAID BACK PANEL AND SAID FRONT PANELS TO DEFINE A PAIR OF LEG OPENINGS IN SAID UNDERGARMENT. 